Caring for our carers

We all have an important role in making sure we recognise and support our unpaid carers, and they have barriers removed so they can access and receive care in an appropriate, enabling, and supportive way.

It’s our aspiration to have a Carer Champion in every service. Our carer champion’s will act as a staff voice for carers accessing your service and be a key point of contact for carer information within your service.

The role of the Carer Champion includes:

• Being the link person between carers and staff
• Providing information to staff, patients and families about carers and support
• Raising awareness of carers and support available
• Helping carers understand the ward environment and/or the service
• Developing links with other services/professionals
• Developing links with families and friends
• Signposting carers in the right direction for support.

The Carer Champion will:

• Attend carer champion meetings and training (online and face to face)
• Be a member of the Carer Champion Network where they can keep up to date with information, developments and opportunities
• Be provided with time to attend meetings, events and specified training
• Provide support to the Team Manager on the Triangle of Care standards.

If you are interested in becoming a Carer Champion or you are already a Carer Champion and would like to continue in this role, please speak to your line manager and contact the Carer Engagement Team on:

Email: carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

Phone number: 01925 972 801

Our Carer Support Pathway offers the following opportunities for unpaid carers:

• Support to access Carers Centres and other local community organisations to support emotional and physical wellbeing
• Get involved in carer engagement activities and events 
• Regular updates from the Carer Engagement Team
• The opportunity to access peer support
• The opportunity to access the Carer Training Education and Support Program (TES)
• The opportunity to get involved in coproduction

To access the Carer Support Pathway, the carer must be aged 18 or over and be caring for someone under a Mersey Care service.

Please obtain consent from the carer and then complete the referral form ensuring you provide relevant information so that the Carer Engagement Officer can make appropriate contact with the carer. 

For more information - or for a copy of the referral form, please contact the Carer Engagement Team by emailing carers@merseycare.nhs.uk or calling 01925 972 801 or please see the resources above. 

The Triangle of Care is a therapeutic alliance between carers, service users and health professionals and was developed by the Carers Trust in 2010. It aims to promote safety and recovery and to sustain mental well being by including and supporting carers and helps services think about how they engage carers and supports them in making changes that promote a carer aware culture on our wards and in our teams. The Triangle of Care audit is on AMaT and each service in the Trust is expected to complete this on a quarterly basis. The nominated Carer Champion in each service area may be able to complete this or the person in charge.

The Trust currently have 2 Star Status and we are working towards 3 Star Status.

For more information on training and resources to support Triangle of Care implementation, please email the Carer Engagement Team at carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

More information about the Triangle of Care can be found on their website.

The Carers Passport highlights the importance of carers and promotes a culture that recognises and values carers and their needs.

The Carer Passport includes a partnership agreement between hospital staff and the carer as to their involvement in care provision, discussions, and emotional support for the patient during their stay in hospital.

How the passport can help

The passport will make an enormous difference to our patients and carers, but also to our staff, as carers play a key role in providing reassurance, supporting mealtimes and treatment regimes, and their participation in discussions around discharge planning is essential.

Examples of support may include: 

• Supporting engagement with treatment plans
• Assistance and encouragement at mealtimes 
• Emotional support and reassurance to reduce significant agitation or distress 
• Assisting with communication needs 
• Altered visiting times and arrangements.

How to use the passport

The carer passport should be completed with the carer and ward manager/nurse in charge or appropriate nominated ward staff.

An agreement form will be completed during this conversation which will include the following steps:

• Completing the patient's name and carer name/names  
• Reviewing the concessions and agree what is required and can be provided for this episode of care, by ticking the relevant box 
• Ward manager/nurse in charge and carer sign the agreement  
• The carer is issued with small card with ward details to indicate that the passport has been issued
• Document that the passport has been agreed and ensure that all ward staff are made aware. 

For more information or to order more passports for your ward, please email the Carer Engagement Team at carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

We always welcome feedback about our services from carers, families and friends. Their voices are important in shaping and improving the care we provide.

Please encourage the carers that you come into contact with to share their feedback here (QR code) which will help to improve our offer as well as support our Triangle of Care assessment.

The quick survey can also be accessed via this weblink.

If carers are unable to access the form to share their feedback, we can provide a paper copy to complete.

If you have any questions, please contact carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

• Do you provide support to a family member, friend or neighbour due to their age, illness, disability, or other factors?
• Do you juggle full-time or part-time work with your caring role?
• Do you know what support is available as an employee of the Trust?

If you are an unpaid working carer, you can…

• register on the Carer Support Pathway as a colleague carer. A Carer Engagement Officer will call, or Teams call, to offer support to access local Carers Centres and other local community organisations that support emotional and physical wellbeing, provide regular updates from the team about carer information, carer support and carer events, access to carer training education and peer support. If you wish to register, please email the team carer@merseycare.nhs.uk
• register that you are a working carer on ESR, using the guidance here on how to do this. 
• speak with a trust ‘Flex-pert’ about being an unpaid working carer to get support around flexible working requests and applications etc
  • Flexible working policy
  • Special leave policy
• also join the Staff Carer Network to get up to date carer information and access peer support. You can access the Staff networks page here.

Carer Awareness training is designed to help equip Mersey Care teams and individuals with the knowledge to identify and support unpaid carers within our roles.

The aims of the training are:

• To increase awareness of what an unpaid carer is and how we can identify and support them within our role
• To increase awareness of the support available for carers from both Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and other partner organisations
• To be able to appropriately signpost and refer carers to this support

Carer Awareness training can be booked via the Trust’s Learning and Development prospectus under Section Four: Continuous Professional Development

For more information around Carer Awareness training, please email carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

Who Are Young Carers?

A Young Carer is someone under the age of 18 who helps to care for a family member who has:

• A disability
• A long-term illness
• A mental health condition
• Substance misuse issues (drugs or alcohol)

What Might a Young Carer Do?

Young carers may:

• Look after a parent, brother, or sister who needs support.
• Take on extra household responsibilities such as:
  • cooking, cleaning and shopping
• Help with personal care, such as:
  • getting dressed, moving around the home
• Support with communication, such as interpreting or helping someone express themselves.
• Provide emotional support to family members, especially during times of stress or crisis.

All Mersey Care staff should understand the role and challenges for young carers and be able to identify and offer support to young carers within inpatient services and wider community settings.  

Referral pathways

There are Young Carers support services across each of the 6 places and detailed below is how to make a referral.

Local support for Young Carers

Sefton –

To refer a young Carer to Sefton Carers Centre, staff should complete the referral form below.

If you have any questions regarding the referral process, call Sefton Young Carers Team on 0151 288 6060 or email help@carers.sefton.gov.uk

Sefton young carers referral

Halton

To refer a young Carer to Halton Carers Centre, staff should complete the referral form below.

If you have any questions regarding the referral process, call the Young Carers Team on 01928 580182 Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm.

Halton young carers referral 

Knowsley (Family First)

To refer a young Carer to Family First, staff should complete the referral form which is attached below. Please send completed referral form to tracy.mythen@knowsley.gov.uk or Christopher.Wong@knowsley.gov.uk via Egress or password protected document.

Young Carers - Help & Support | Carers Trust

Knowsley.YoungCarers@knowsley.gov.uk

Liverpool (Barnardo’s)

To refer a young Carer to Barnardo’s, staff should complete the referral form which can be found on the below website.

If you have any questions regarding the referral process, call Barnardo’s on 0151 228 4455 or email youngcarers.liverpool@barnardos.org.uk

Action with Young Carers Liverpool | Barnardo's

Warrington (WIRED)

To refer a young Carer to WIRED, staff should complete the referral form which can be found on the below website.

If you have any questions regarding the referral process, call WIRED on 01925 987010 (Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm) or email wycadmin1@wired.me.uk

Wired | Carers Health & Wellbeing Service

St Helens

To refer a young Carer to St Helens Carers Centre, staff should call 01744 677279 Monday – Friday 9.30am – 5.30pm, (Closed at 4pm on a Friday) or by emailing info@sthelenscarers.org.uk

St Helens Young Carers Centre

National support for Young Carers

• Help for young carers - Social care and support guide - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

• Carer’s Trust offers information and advice for young carers, and runs local support services.
• Sidekick by Action for Children is a text message and email support service for young carers.
• Citizens Advice has information on money, benefits and your rights.
• The National Careers Service has a helpline, web chat and email service about education and careers for teenagers. Support is also available up to the age of 25 for those who have learning difficulties or disabilities.
• Barnardo's Young Carers